Electrical contact terminals are retained in connector housings in a variety of conventional ways. Certain methods involve molding the housing around the terminals, or potting the terminals within the housing or force fitting the terminals in individual passageways for permanent retention. For retention to permit removal of a terminal, conventional methods include forming locking fingers on a stamped and formed terminal which extend at an appropriate angle laterally to engage behind stop surfaces along the housing passageway to secure the terminal against withdrawal, but are deflectable toward the terminal, and away from the stop surfaces by a tool inserted into the passageway alongside the terminal whereafter the terminal is withdrawn such as for repair or replacement. Another conventional method involves locking fingers of the plastic housing extending into the passageway which are initially deflected by the terminal during insertion and which latch behind an annular collar or stop surface of the terminal upon full insertion, and these fingers are also tool-deflectable for terminal removal. A variety of retention clips are also known, mostly cylindrical metal sleeves which are stamped and formed to have locking fingers which engage an annular collar of a terminal and which are retained in the housing passageway such as by locking lances, and where the locking fingers are deflectable outwardly away from the terminal collar by a tool inserted into the passageway for this purpose, allowing the terminal to be pulled out.
It is desirable to provide a system for securely retaining a terminal in a housing passageway without retention clips or terminal locking fingers, which also permits removal of the terminal when desired.
It is also desirable to provide a one-piece housing which retains a plurality of terminals having an array of aligned contact sections extending therefrom, any one of which may be removed if desired without affecting others of the terminals.
It is further desirable to provide for assured retention of a terminal along a short axial length which also maintains the terminal in axial alignment.